The Top 10 South Park Episodes

With over 250 episodes under its belt, South Park is one of the most successful and long-running TV comedies -- animated or otherwise -- of all time. Since its debut on Comedy Central in 1997, the series has delivered a wide range of unique stories, all of them courtesy of creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

As Season 20 (!!) gets ready to begin, we've compiled an updated Top 10 South Park episodes list, looking back at the entire series so far through Season 19.

Narrowing the list down to just 10 episodes was a tough process, and of course there are still some classics that didn't make the cut: "Obama Wins!", "Super Best Friends," "Asspen" and the Black Friday episodes. But, as awesome as those episodes were (and are), the following 10 are what we consider to be the best of the best. As always, tell us your favorites in the comments below!

10

"Good Times With Weapons" (Season 8)

"Good Times with Weapons" is fantastic for many reasons, but it's best remembered for its Japanese/English song "Let's Fighting Love," and rendering the boys as anime-style ninjas. In addition to featuring a hilarious subplot involving Butters pretending to be a dog with a shuriken in his eye, this episode includes brilliant satire of America's outrage of sex over violence. In this case, Cartman streaking at an outdoor auction apparently trumps Butters' near-mortal wound.

9

"Best Friends Forever" (Season 9)

Released March 30, 2005

"This is even bigger than the final battle in the Lord of the Rings movie!"

This Kenny-centric episode is easily one of his most memorable, if only because Kenny literally orchestrates the most epic battle of all time. (I mean, we don't actually get to see the battle, but still.) Aside from depicting an all-out war between Heaven and Hell, this episode is notable for its brilliant nonpartisan commentary on euthanasia -- that is, "If I should ever be in a vegetative state and kept on life support, please... for the love of God, don't ever show me in that condition on national television."

8

"Cancelled" (Season 7)

Released March 19, 2003

"My God... We're famous!"

South Park's Season 7 premiere is a master class in meta storytelling. Using the pilot as a jumping-off point, the episode goes from being a weird case of deja vu to an wacky space adventure, as the boys discover that Earth -- all of Earth -- is actually an intergalactic reality TV show made for the entertainment of aliens. Not only that, but they convince a supreme alien being to take the form of a taco that poops ice cream.

7

"Casa Bonita" (Season 7)

Released November 12, 2003

"More sopapillas, please!"

"Casa Bonita" is, perhaps, the best Cartman/Butters episode to date. "AWESOM-O" and "Super Fun Time" are also great, but "Casa Bonita" is especially noteworthy for Cartman's elaborate execution of tricking Butters into thinking he's the sole survivor of a meteoric holocaust. The sheer lengths to which Cartman goes to get invited to Kyle's Casa Bonita birthday party are truly staggering -- and entertaining.

6

"Go God Go XII" (Season 10)

Using Buck Rogers as a vehicle for exploring militant atheism, "Go God Go" and its direct followup "Go God Go XII" chronicle the most ridiculous journey to a video game console release the world has ever known. While the story is primarily driven by Cartman's unending search for a Nintendo Wii, it's really the episodes' examinations of war, religion, politics and prank phone calls that make this one a winner -- and that's not to mention K-10, bark bark.